Chapter 5
Derek went into the old archives beneath his house, where his mother had carefully preserved all the names and birth records of her children.
Finally at the list, under his sisters’ names, Laura and Cora, Derek saw a name written, and then crossed out.
Harry Hale.
The werewolf looked away from the written proof that he did, indeed, have a younger brother for whom he had never been there.
The Argents knew of his presence.
They knew who he was.
Or, rather, what he was.
But he had another way to determine that Harry was indeed that brother he had lost.
His wolf had reacted to his presence, but Derek had assumed that it saw Scott as his sister's Beta, transformed by her before she was killed.
Now he couldn't help but wonder if his wolf had reacted to the younger Hale's presence.
***
Getting into the hospital where his uncle was being held had been simple enough.
Seeing his uncle hurt was more hard, always so painful for Derek.
Peter had played an important role in the education and protection of his nephews and nieces. He was there for them when they needed him. What happened in the fire was just another proof of that dedication.
The nurse on duty smiled at Derek. "Have you already arrived?"
“I was wondering who the new boy was that came here every day to take care of him. He isn’t one of the nurses.” Derek said. No one knew that his uncle was being held there.
If the Argents had known, they would have ended their work.
"Oh, Harry." The nurse smiled. "He has a heart of gold. He sits here and talks to him all the time."
"Do you know why? I'm a little worried about Peter." Derek said.
The nurse pursed her lips, before looking at the paralyzed man.
"It's a bit of a sensitive topic, officer."
Derek wasn't ashamed of impersonating a police officer to get in.
They were investigating the origin of the fire that had killed the entire family.
Visiting the only survivor was a must, according to the ongoing investigation.
"And that would be?"
"Harry doesn't know anything about the fire, he wasn't in Beacon Hills when it happened. And he was too young to have anything to do with that."
Derek narrowed his eyes and the nurse explained. "Peter had an older sister, Talia. She had three children in Beacon Hills, registered. But she had given birth to twins, the last time. And one of them was given up for adoption." The nurse looked away, saying. "They might fire me if they knew I was talking about it. Sirius Black, Harry's adoptive father, specifically requested silence on this matter."
"Clearly Harry has no idea about anything that happened in the fire." Derek nodded and the nurse nodded, relieved. "Sirius only explained to him that everyone was dead, except his uncle, who however wasn't responding to external signals. He comes here every day to find him."
"Has he already passed today?" Derek asked.
The nurse shook her head. "He always comes by after school. He'll be here in a few hours."
The werewolf nodded. "I'll wait for him here, then."
"Yes, of course. But, please, don't make him uncomfortable. We think his presence could have a positive impact on the patient’s health."
***
Harry entered Peter's hospital room after two hours, starting to talk about the problems Scott had gotten himself into.
"I swear that boy doesn't have the slightest survival instinct. One would think that knowing what the Argents are doing, what they did, would put him on his guard, right?"
The boy put down his backpack and hung his sweatshirt at the entrance, taking off his shoes and climbing next to his uncle on the bed.
"But no! He wants to tell the Argents everything! And apparently Chris' sister is here too! Kate, or something."
Harry sighed, combing his uncle's hair as he said. “Uncle, can one be so stupid?”
"No, he can't."
To his credit, Harry wasn't scared.
If not getting scared meant jumping backwards and screaming as he fell to the ground.
“That was an insult to the family.”
The boy looked up, to see Derek standing in front of him.
"I didn't know I had a younger brother named Harry."
Harry looked around, seeing the open window.
With his reflexes, he could have jumped down quite easily.
“Jumping out a window is not a good solution to the problem.” Derek told him.
“I think you underestimate the merits of jumping out a window.” Harry shrugged, before looking at his uncle worriedly.
"I don't think he hears you." Derek admitted and Harry shrugged. “I thought he was my only living family.”
"I didn't know I was your brother. I thought my wolf was responding to Scott, seeing him as my sister's Beta. I didn't think he was recognizing you."
Harry swallowed, shrugging. "Okay. Sirius told me you didn't even know I existed."
"But you're hurt." Derek shook his head, moving closer. "You are hurt by my rejection. Even if it was done unconsciously."
“You ignored me and called Scott a brother.” Harry shrugged, finally looking into his brother's green eyes.
They were the same color as his.
“How do you think I felt?”
“I had no idea you were my brother, though.” Derek placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, saying. "Believe me when I say that if I had known, I would have done nothing but take care of you. I would have looked for you the exact moment I found out about your existence."
"Well, now you know about my existence." Harry said, looking Derek in the eyes. "What are you going to do?"
Derek smiled. "Taking care of my younger brother."
"And what about your revenge?"
"It's more important to keep you alive than to hunt down an enemy. I want to know you're safe, Harry. If in my revenge, I lose you..." Derek shook his head. "I can't let that happen."
Harry smiled, before looking at his uncle and saying. "Are you sure he can't heal? We're faster, more skilled, and he can't heal?"
"I'm not sure. In our mom's diary, there was an 'm' next to your name. What does that mean?"
"I think she meant my magic. I have magic, that's why she was able to send me with Remus. He's a cursed werewolf, meaning he was bitten."
"I see. And where did you live, are there wizards?"
"In England there is a magical community, yes. But also in America and France. There are two schools of magic in these two countries. And one in Norway, probably. Maybe Russia."
"Okay, so wizards exist. Why have I never seen one?"
"Because when you don't understand something, what you do is hunt and try to destroy it. Wizards hide from muggles, that is, people without magic. Like werewolves they have to hide from those who don't have the gene. Or the hunters come and become a danger."
"It's true. They hunt, without discriminating between dangerous and harmless. They have even killed children." Derek looked at Harry fondly. "I'm glad mom sent you up for adoption. At least I still have a brother alive, who I won't let the Argents take from me."
Harry smiled at Derek, allowing him to hold him.
Besides, their conversation had given the boy something else to think about.
**
“What are you doing with these books?” Sirius asked, looking at all the magic books Harry had pulled off the shelf.
"Research." Harry replied.
Sirius sat down next to him. "I know, pup. What I'm wondering is why."
"Derek found out I'm his brother. He's coming to dinner tonight."
“And you were planning on telling me, when?”
"When he would be at the door and you couldn't send him away." Harry answered honestly.
Sirius shook his head, sighing. “I can't be mad at you, pup.” Then, he looked at the table full of books and sheets of paper. “Did you decide to take the tests early, pup?”
"No, because I think I would go crazy if, to all the mess here, I also add the mess of tests and studying. Derek said that, even though our uncle is a werewolf, he can't heal himself."
"Do you want to heal him with magic?" Sirius asked and Harry nodded.
"It seems like a good solution to me." He showed a couple of books to Sirius. "I asked Kreacher to send me books dealing with any mental illness from the Black library here. Dobby went into the Room of Requirement to get some books from there too and I wrote to a friend of mine in Ilvermorny to see if the library school has something about it. They are more open to werewolves, so I told him it was to help a werewolf recover from a degenerative mental illness. I also told him about the fire to give him more information, and he said he would talk to the professor about magic and magical species outside of wizards to see if any of them have any ideas."
"What do you have, for now?" Sirius asked and Harry shrugged. "A bad headache."
Sirius laughed, before checking his notes. "It looks like you're creating a new spell, little one. I'll make sure you get the guidance on creating spells. Your father and I had a lot of fun creating new magic when we were in school."
"Really?" Harry asked, a small smile forming on his face.
"Although I regret to admit that it was not to cure a patient from a condition deemed chronic and impossible to cure."
"Your spells were childish, Padfoot." Remus spoke from the doorway, before looking at Harry and saying. “Derek is outside the door and says he was invited to your house for dinner.”
"Oh, yes. Well, let's go eat, then!" Harry smiled, before getting up and heading towards the living room, where he could hear Derek breathing in expectation.
****
Derek knew that Harry's guardians would not look kindly on him being there.
As far as they were concerned, Derek had abandoned Harry in his time of need and then recognized a kinship with Scott, not Harry.
So Derek couldn't blame the two adults for their looks and their digs, even if they were probably contained only out of respect for Harry.
But part of Derek just wanted to growl at the way Sirius held Harry and claimed their bond.
Derek didn't know he had a brother. If he had known, he would have sought him out and protected him.
He couldn't be blamed for the machinations between his mother and Remus. He could not know that his wolf had recognized a brother he had never seen and who had never been revealed to him.
His mother and uncle had never talked about Cora's twin brother. The girl probably didn't know the truth either.
Laura didn't know, and Peter couldn't enjoy his nephew who came back just for him.
Derek just wanted to talk to his younger brother for a moment, without the judgmental and angry looks of Sirius and Remus following his every possible move.
"Well," Harry spoke, after the dessert had been eaten, "now that you're done making Derek feel guilty about things that aren't his fault, I'm going to show him my research so far."
Derek watched with amusement as the two adults showed signs of guilt.
“Sure, pup.” Remus was the first to agree. "I'll make sure Sirius brings you all the information you need later."
"It is appreciated." Harry smiled, letting himself be hugged first by Remus and then by Sirius, before taking Derek's wrist and dragging him to his room.
Derek took the opportunity to take note of his younger brother's interests, analyzing them as if he needed to receive every possible and imaginable information.
"Now they won't be able to hear us." Harry informed him. “I threw a Muffliato at the door, we will be safe from their hearing."
The boy sat down on his bed.
Derek took note of the two most prominent colors: blue and green, dark and calming colors, if Derek was being honest. Probably the reason Harry had placed them in the first place.
There were several books on the walls, some magic titles, some science, medicine, history. Harry had been good at keeping himself busy, Derek thought, glancing over at his desk to find a weekly calendar hanging there, with homework for Beacon Hills school and other assignments marked.
Considering that he went to visit their uncle every night and that he had helped Scott and Stiles with all their problems, even doing research to cure Peter...
Harry must have been extremely tired.
“I looked up several references.” Harry began to say, placing some sheets of paper on the bed and then muttering under his breath, "I certainly won't miss parchment." The boy looked up and smiled. "Wizards have looked for different ways to cure people, but none of them should cure the damage that burns left on Peter. But none of them have ever actually dealt with a werewolf, all the studies were more about humans and no-maj."
Harry's look became embarrassed, as if it were guilt because other wizards had never thought of studying that branch of magic.
"I can try..."
"No." Derek stopped him, approaching Harry and taking the hand that was probably going to get a book or a sheet or a scheme for his studies and hypotheses. "I am grateful and happy for all you have done for our uncle, but, Harry, I did not come here to dinner to talk about how to help our uncle."
Harry's look was pure curiosity. “Then why…?”
Derek swallowed, feeling guilty for all the times he hadn't been there for his brother.
"I'm here for you, Harry." Derek said, holding Harry’s hands and sitting down in front of him. "I want to get to know you better. In the future, we will talk more about our uncle, and I can tell you more about the other members, but right now... now I just want to get to know my little brother."
And Harry, a hesitant smile on his face, began to talk about what his life had been up to that point.
***
The next morning, Harry was glad it was a Saturday.
He hadn't slept well after Derek had been forced by his adoptive parents to leave. His mind was focused on Derek putting Harry first.
He was too focused on the memory of how Derek had listened to everything Harry had to say, how his eyes had glowed blue, a snarl on his lips when he heard the most dangerous parts, and how he had held him every time he told him how he almost died (which was quite a few times. Three in the first year, maybe two or three in the second, quite a few in the third, with the Dementors on the loose, and in the fourth at least three. Also he had almost died more than once in the Labyrinth), and then how he had hugged him before being escorted out by Sirius.
He was used to Sirius and Remus looking after him. And, after arriving in Beacon Hills, Scott, Stiles, Melissa, and the Sheriff had also joined the list of people who cared.
But having a brother who cared? A family that gave a damn about him?
Harry hadn't expected this, and was starting to wonder how Ron could have resented his brothers for so long and so much.
Was this what it felt like to have your family there?
Harry smiled. It was a wonderful feeling.
He looked up in time to see Hedwig enter his room, landing on the bed right in front of Harry.
"Hi girl." Harry smiled at her, running a finger over her head and then down her body. "You have something for me?"
Hedwig enjoyed the caress for a moment, before holding out her paw and showing Harry the letter tied to it.
Gently, Harry took it.
Hi Harry!
I was pleased to receive your letter, although next time you might avoid making me search for old spells tested on werewolves.
Against burns in particular, I found nothing. The general spell that is used in these cases is Emendo, which allows you to heal the part of the body on which the wand is pointed. Another possible spell is Episkey. It is used to heal minor wounds, including burns.
For potions, you can use Dittany essence, but even that would have limited results.
Now, all of this, along with the books I sent you, are studies on wizards. For werewolves, I'm not sure what that would change. I also sent you books about the different werewolves that exist.
Let me know how your studying goes too and if you want my notes!
With love,
Marc
Harry glanced at the bag still hanging from Hedwig's paw.
“Those are the books, right?”
Hedwig stared at him, and Harry felt himself sigh.
"Well." He reached out to take it. "Let's see what he sent me."